Pant-Like Disposable Garment Having Improved Fastener Systems

ABSTRACT

Disposable pant like garments are disclosed. Pant like garments of the present invention generally comprise a main absorbent portion and a pair of side portions. One or more sections of the pant-like garments are provided with one or more cohesive areas which allow for cohesive fastening and refastening of portions of the garment. The cohesives chosen may have the same properties or may be of the selective adhesive type. Pant like garments may be provided with cohesive fasteners and not other types of refastening means. In other variations, cohesive fasteners may be supplemented with one or more frangible bonds. Also disclosed are side portions having cohesive areas which may be converted in use from an abutting facing relationship to an overlapping facing relationship. Multiple cohesive areas of varying types for providing differential bond properties during use are also disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/045,654,filed Jan. 28, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to disposable absorbent articles and inparticular disposable pant-like garments. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to a pre-fastened disposable pant like garment havingimproved fastener systems which provide adjustable, versatile, andrefastenable, disposable products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Absorbent articles such as disposable diapers for infants and smallchildren and adult incontinence products have long been known in theart. These articles are designed to absorb and contain body exudatessuch as urine and fecal matter. Ideally these products fit snugly andprevent leakage of exudates.

Typically, conventional diaper products for infants and small childrenhave included a front waist portion, and a rear waist portion which arereleasably connected about the hips of the wearer during use byfasteners such as adhesive tape fasteners or hook and loop typefasteners. Commonly such diapers were put on by laying the baby on itsback, positioning the diaper between the baby's legs and fastening thefasteners about the waist.

More recently, there have been several prior art disposable absorbentarticles of the so called “pants” type. These are articles designed toabsorb and contain body exudates which are typically in a closed waistconfiguration and which are designed to be pulled up over the hips ofthe wearer into position around the waist and between the legs. Thispulling up of such articles may be accomplished by a caregiver, by thewearer (such as a child) alone, or by the wearer with assistance from acaregiver. Typically, such pants type articles have a stretchableportion, such as a stretchable side area which expands to allows thearticle to be pulled over the hips and then retracts somewhat to providea conforming fit of the article. Often such pants type articles areprovided with a seamed area, such as seamed sides. The seams of sucharticles may be broken, such as by tearing, for removal of the article.A variation of the pants type articles are absorbent articles which areprovided in a closed waist (or “pants”) configuration and which can bepulled over the hips of the wearer into place about the waist. Thesearticles are also provided, however, with a refastenable seamed area,such as refastenable side seams. A hook and loop fastener is one exampleof a refastenable seam which is known in the art used in conjunctionwith a pants type absorbent article for babies or young children.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,526, although not the first to do so, describes apant like garment having pre-fastened hook and loop type fasteners atthe side of the article. PCT Patent application WO 00/37016 disclosesarticles with primary and secondary fasteners where at least one of thefasteners are mechanical in nature. U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,287 discloses arefastenable primary fastener with passive side bonds located inwardlyof said primary fasteners. The primary fasteners are mechanical innature.

While some pants type absorbent articles with refastenable features haveenjoyed some commercial success, use of currently available diaperfastening systems has drawbacks in this context. For example, the use ofadhesives as part of a diaper fastening system has the drawbacks thatadhesive may stick to itself or stick to portions of the article wheresuch sticking is not desired. Other locations of undesired sticking mayinclude skin, hair, etc. Mechanical fasteners, such as a hook and loopfasteners also have drawbacks. For example, hook type fasteners also mayhave a tendency to attach to undesired locations such as clothing,carpet, or the wearer (even if no sticking takes place, hooks mayirritate the wearer's skin). Additionally, hooks and loops may provechallenging to integrate into a pant form with appropriate peel forces.If peel forces are too low, then children may have a tendency to removethe absorbent article when such removal is undesired. Other potentialdrawback of conventional mechanical fasteners is that many require anarea without stretch properties in the overall article. This createssomewhat of a design paradox if stretch is generally desired in the sidearea of the product, but the mechanical fastener (such as a hook andloop) which is also to be placed on the side must be placed in an areawithout stretch properties. The compromise made is typically to limitthe size of the hook and loop fastening area which results in a lack ofversatility of the product and can lead to compromise on either thedesired fastener strength properties or the stretch properties of theside portion of the article.

Another problem often associated with mechanical type fasteners is thatthey can tend to become damaged during the high speed operationsrequired for commercially viable manufacture of pant like disposablegarments. For example, hooks tend to get damaged during manufacture, andother mechanical type fasteners such as buttons, tab and slots, or thelike can also become damaged, torn, or otherwise impacted by thechallenges of high speed handling.

The articles of the present invention provide pants type disposablegarments which overcome the drawbacks associated with mechanical typefasteners and also avoiding the problems seen with conventional adhesivefasteners. By employing various types of selective adhesive fasteningtechniques either alone or in combination with fastening techniques, thearticles described herein offer improved versatility, fit, refasteningperformance over those previously known in the art. These and otheradvantages of the articles of the present invention will become apparentin light of the description below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a disposable pant like garment. Thedisposable pant like garment may comprise a main absorbent portion and apair of side portions. The main absorbent portion may comprise at leasta liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet, and anabsorbent core disposed therebetween. Additionally, the main absorbentportion may have a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotchregion between and connecting the front and rear waist regions. The sideportions of the garment may each comprise a front side portion disposedgenerally transversely from the front waist region and a correspondingrear side portion disposed generally transversely from the rear waistregion. The disposable pant like garment may further comprise a cohesivefastening system. The cohesive fastening system may comprise an engagingmember having an engaging surface and a receiving member having areceiving surface. The engaging surface may include a cohesive substancedisposed on the engaging surface which engages with the cohesive on thereceiving surface to form a closed pant like garment having arefastenable connection. The cohesive substances may be the onlyrefastening means provided to the side portions.

The disposable pant like garment may be packaged in a closedconfiguration.

The cohesive substance disposed on the engaging surface may be the sameas the receiving cohesive substance disposed on the receiving surface.The cohesive substance disposed on the engaging surface may be differentfrom the receiving cohesive substance disposed on the receiving surface.

The cohesive receiving substance may be disposed on substantially theentirety of said front side portion.

The disposable pant like garment may comprise a main absorbent portionand a pair of side portions. The main absorbent portion may comprise atleast a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet, andan absorbent core disposed therebetween. The main absorbent portion mayhave a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch regionbetween and connecting said front and said rear waist regions. The sideportions may each comprise a front side portion disposed generallytransversely from said front waist region and a corresponding rear sideportion disposed generally transversely from said rear waist region.Each of said front side portions may include a cohesive engaging areaand each of said rear side portions may include a cohesive receivingarea. Each of said front side portions may be frangibly bonded to saidcorresponding rear side portion in an abutting facing relationship overat least a portion of their surfaces. Upon breaking of said frangiblebonds, each front side portion and its corresponding rear side portionsmay be refastenably joined together at the cohesive engaging andcohesive receiving areas in an overlapping configuration over at least aportion of their respective surfaces.

The frangible bonds may be thermal bonds. The frangible bonds may bepressure bonds.

The disposable pant like garment may comprise a main absorbent portionand a pair of side portions. The main absorbent portion may comprise atleast a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet, andan absorbent core disposed therebetween. The main absorbent portion mayhave a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch regionbetween and connecting said front and said rear waist regions. The sideportions may each comprise front side portion disposed generallytransversely from said front waist region and a corresponding rear sideportion disposed generally transversely from said rear waist region.Each said front side portion may comprise an area containing a cohesiveof type A and a second distinct area containing a cohesive of type B.Each said corresponding rear side portion may comprise an areacontaining a cohesive of type A and a second distinct area containing acohesive of type B. Each of said cohesive type A and cohesive type B onsaid front side portions may be capable of forming a cohesive bond witheither cohesive type A or cohesive type B on said corresponding rearside portion. At least one bond property of the resulting cohesive bondmay vary depending on whether said cohesive bond is formed betweencohesives of the same type or cohesives of differing types.

The disposable pant like garment may comprise a main absorbent portionand a pair of side portions. The main absorbent portion may comprise atleast a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet, andan absorbent core disposed therebetween. The main absorbent portion mayhave a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch regionbetween and connecting said front and said rear waist regions. The sideportions may each comprise a front side portion disposed generallytransversely from said front waist region and a corresponding rear sideportion disposed generally transversely from said rear waist region.Each of said front side portions may include a first cohesive area andeach of said rear side portions may include a second cohesive area. Eachof said first cohesive areas and said second cohesive areas may provideeach front side portion fastening and refastening capability to saidcorresponding rear side portion. At least a portion of said firstcohesive area and said second cohesive areas may be locations ofextensibility of said side portions when said front and saidcorresponding rear side portions are refastenably engaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable pant like garment accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a disposable pant like garment accordingto the present invention showing its left side portion in an openconfiguration.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a disposable pant like garment according to thepresent invention laid flat in its uncontracted state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a disposable pant like garment accordingto the present invention showing an additional embodiment of the sidearea configuration.

FIG. 5 shows one side portion of a garment of the present invention inwhich there is an abutting relationship between sections of the sideportion.

FIG. 6 shows one side portion of a garment of the present invention inwhich there is an overlapping relationship between sections of the sideportion.

FIG. 7 shows a side portion of a garment of the present inventionshowing frangible bonding and cohesive bonding used in combination.

FIG. 8 shows a side portion of a garment of the present inventionshowing multiple cohesive zones of differing types allowing fordifferent bonding properties.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings:

“Absorbent article” refers to devices that absorb and contain liquid,and more specifically, refers to devices that are placed against or inproximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain the variousexudates discharged from the body.

“Longitudinal” is a direction running parallel to the maximum lineardimension of the article and includes directions within ±45° of thelongitudinal direction.

The “lateral” or “transverse” direction is orthogonal to thelongitudinal direction.

The “Z-direction” is orthogonal to both the longitudinal and transversedirections.

The “x-y plane” refers to the plane congruent with the longitudinal andtransverse directions.

The term “disposable” is used herein to describe absorbent articles thatgenerally are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored orreused as an absorbent article (i.e., they are intended to be discardedafter a single use and, preferably, to be recycled, composted orotherwise disposed of in an environmentally compatible manner).

As used herein, the term “disposed” is used to mean that an element(s)is formed (joined and positioned) in a particular place or position as aunitary structure with other elements or as a separate element joined toanother element.

As used herein, the term “joined” encompasses configurations whereby anelement is directly secured to another element by affixing the elementdirectly to the other element, and configurations whereby an element isindirectly secured to another element by affixing the element tointermediate member(s) which in turn are affixed to the other element.

A “unitary” absorbent article refers to absorbent articles which areformed of separate parts united together to form a coordinated entity sothat they do not require separate manipulative parts like a separateholder and liner.

As used herein, the term “diaper” refers to an absorbent articlegenerally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso.

As used herein, the term “pant-like” refers to an article configuredsuch that it has a waist opening and a pair of leg openings. Thisconfiguration may be permanent as in the case of conventional underwear,or may be temporary as in the case of a training pant with openableseams for removal. Additionally, absorbent articles can be constructedwith refastenable features allowing the article to have both a pant-likeconfiguration and one or more configurations which are open or not pantlike.

As used herein the term “refastenable” refers to the attachment of twoor more elements or portions of elements together in a manner in whichthey can be separated and re-attached successively without substantialdegradation of fastener performance or damage to surrounding componentsof the article which would impair its continued use. It will beappreciated that a refastenable component need not have an infinite lifespan, but it is sufficient that the components attached in arefastenable manner can be separated and re-attached successivelyseveral times over the typical use life span of the article. It willalso be appreciated that the aggressiveness of actual fastening or tackmay be reduced significantly from fastening to refastening in absoluteterms, but that such reduction is not “substantial degradation” offastener performance if the resulting refastened strength is sufficientfor its purpose of use in a disposable absorbent article.

As used herein “frangible bond” refers to attachment of two or moreelements or portions of elements together in which they may be separatedduring normal use, but upon separation cannot be re-attached withoutsubstantial degradation of fastener performance. A frangible bond isgenerally designed to be broken by the consumer at some point duringnormal use of the article. The breaking of this bond may be optionaldepending on desired use, or it may occur in substantially all useoccasions.

As used herein “permanent bond” refers to attachment of two or moreelements or portions of elements together in a manner in which they arenot intended to be separated during normal use of the article.Separation of such a permanent bond results in degradation of not onlythe attachment, but of at least portions of the article and theperformance of the article for its intended use is compromised uponbreaking of a permanent bond.

As used herein, the term “impermeable” generally refers to articlesand/or elements that are not penetrative by fluid through the entireZ-directional thickness of the article under pressure of 0.14 lb/in² orless. The impermeable article or element also may not be penetrative byfluid under pressures of 0.5 lb/in² or less. The impermeable article orelement may also not be penetrative by fluid under pressures of 1.0lb/in² or less.

As used herein the term “mechanical fastener” refers to a fasteningsystem or mechanism relying on physical restraint or engagement ofportions of the fastener for operation. Examples of mechanical fastenersare hook and loops, buttons, snaps, tab and slots, zippers, and tongueand groove fasteners.

As used herein, the term “adhesive” or “typical adhesive” areinterchangeable and refer to a material which demonstrates connectionwhen applied to another material generally (e.g. material is notspecially selected). Adhesive materials connect to other materialsgenerally and no particularly selected properties of the other materialare necessary for such tack to be demonstrated. Generally, typicaladhesive materials used in disposable absorbent articles demonstratesuch tack either at certain temperatures (such as a hot melt adhesive)or under pressure (a pressure sensitive adhesive).

As used herein, the term “cohesive” refers to a material whichdemonstrates surface interaction (in terms of connection of one surfaceto another) when applied to a specially selected material. An A-A typecohesive material will fasten or form a connection primarily to itselfor to similarly structured materials. Generally, such materials aresubstantially non-tacky (such as to skin) at room temperature even undersome pressure. An A-B type selective adhesive material demonstratessurface interaction properties where material A will stick to differentmaterial B. However, A may also attach to A and B may attach to B. AnA-B type cohesive system could also exist where type A material mayattach to material of type A or type B, but the B type material will notattach to itself or other materials other than A. For purposes of thepresent specification, the term cohesive will include materials whichare sometimes referred to as “selectively adhesive” or “selectiveadhesive” materials. Materials which are designed to receive (i.e. allowthe surface interaction) with a particular cohesive material, but whichthemselves will not connect with any other materials (or itself) arestill considered “cohesive materials” within the meaning of thisspecification when they act as the target surface for a specificcohesive engaging material.

As used herein the term “extensible” refers to materials which elongateor increase in at least one dimension when subject to an externalpulling force.

As used herein the terms “stretchable” or “elastic” are intended to beinterchangeable and refer to materials which are extensible and whichalso return to substantially their original dimensions when the externalpulling force is removed. It will be appreciated that the termsstretchable and elastic include the term extensible as each term is usedherein.

The present invention relates generally to disposable pant like garmentssuch as diapers. In particular, the pant like garments of the presentinvention may be of the “refastenable” type. In other words, the articlemay be provided to the consumer in either a closed or “pant like”configuration (i.e. the article has a complete waist encircling opening)or the article may be provided in an “open” configuration (i.e. thewaist opening is not complete in this configuration. In either case, theuser may make use of the refastenability feature to open the waist froma closed to open configuration or to close it from an open to closedconfiguration. Preferably, the refastenable feature allows for suchopening and closing of a portion of the article multiple times duringthe life cycle of the disposable pant like garment.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a basic pant like garment of the presentinvention. The garment 20 shown in FIG. 1 generally comprises a mainabsorbent portion 30 and a pair of side areas 40 and 50. The mainabsorbent portion 30 taken in combination with the side portions 40 and50 generally define a waist opening 80 and a pair of leg openings 90 and100. Each of the side areas 40 and 50 may be stretchable, includingelastically stretchable. Additionally, each of the side areas 40 and 50may be provided with a refastenability feature allowing the side areas40 and 50 to be opened and re-closed along either or both of sideattachment areas 60 and 70. As shown in FIG. 1 when the side areas 40and 50 are each closed along respective side attachment areas 60 and 70,the waist opening 80 is complete and the garment 20 is said to be in aclosed or pant-like configuration.

FIG. 2 shows the garment of FIG. 1 in which the right side attachmentarea has been opened. When one or both of the side areas 50 and 60 is soopened, the garment 20 is said to be an open configuration. Therespective side portions 50 and 60 of the garment 20 may be eitherseparately attached to the main absorbent portion 30 or may be madeintegrally with the main absorbent portion 30.

FIG. 3 shows the garment of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 laid flat in its openuncontracted state. Garment 20 is generally composed of a main absorbentportion 30 and side areas. As shown in FIG. 3, when the garment 20 isopen and unfolded, the side areas are separated into front side portions42 and 45, and rear side portions 52 and 55.

The main absorbent portion 30 generally includes a pair of longitudinaledges, left edge 160, and right edge 150. The main absorbent portionalso includes a pair of transverse ends, front waist region 144, andrear waist region 146. These waist regions may be provided with elasticgathering features, padding features, containment features, or any otherfeatures typically provided in the waist regions of disposable absorbentarticles of this type, a wide variety of which are known in the art. Anexample of such a feature is shown in FIG. 3 as waist feature 140. Thearea of the main absorbent portion 30 between the described waistregions is typically referred to as the crotch region 170. The crotchregion 170 is that portion of the garment 20 which, when the garment 20is worn, is generally positioned between the legs of the wearer. As withthe waist regions, the crotch region 170 may be provided with any of thefeatures typically provided on disposable absorbent garments of thistype. Examples of such features typically employed in the art are legelastic, barrier containment structures, graphics, notches for fit orappearance, etc.

The main absorbent portion 30 of the garment 20 typically comprises atleast a liquid pervious topsheet 130, a liquid impervious backsheet 120,and at least a portion of an absorbent core 110 encased between thetopsheet 130 and the backsheet 120. For unitary absorbent articles, thisbasic assembly comprises the main structure of the diaper with otherfeatures added to form the main absorbent portion 30 and ultimately thegarment 20 as a whole. While the topsheet 130, the backsheet 120, andthe absorbent core 110 may be assembled in a variety of well-knownconfigurations, preferred diaper configurations are described generallyin U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003 entitled “Contractible Side Portions forDisposable Diaper” issued to Kenneth B. Buell on Jan. 14, 1975; U.S.Pat. No. 5,151,092 issued to Buell on Sep. 9, 1992; and U.S. Pat. No.5,221,274 issued to Buell on Jun. 22, 1993; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,145entitled “Absorbent Article With Multiple Zone Structural Elastic-LikeFilm Web Extensible Waist Feature” issued to Roe et al. on Sep. 10,1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,234 entitled “Disposable Pull-On Pant” issuedto Buell et al. on Oct. 29, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,411 entitled “ZeroScrap Method For Manufacturing Side Panels For Absorbent Articles”issued to Nease, et al. on Dec. 3, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,306entitled “Absorbent Article With Multi-Directional Extensible SidePanels” issued to Robles et al. on Dec. 21, 1999; each of which isincorporated herein by reference.

The topsheet 130 may be fully or partially elasticized or may beforeshortened so as to provide a void space between the topsheet 130 andthe core 110. Exemplary structures including elasticized orforeshortened topsheets are described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No.4,892,536 issued to DesMarais et al. on Jan. 9, 1990 entitled “AbsorbentArticle Having Elastic Strands”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,147 issued toFreeland on Feb. 5, 1991 entitled “Absorbent Article With Elastic LinerFor Waste Material Isolation”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,416 issued to Allenet al. on Aug. 6, 1991 entitled “Disposable Absorbent Article HavingElastically Extensible Topsheet”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,775 issued toFreeland et al. on Dec. 14, 1993 entitled “Trisection Topsheets ForDisposable Absorbent Articles and Disposable Absorbent Articles HavingSuch Trisection Topsheets”; each of which is incorporated by referenceherein.

The absorbent core 110 may comprise any absorbent material that isgenerally compressible, conformable, non-irritating to the wearer'sskin, and capable of absorbing and retaining liquids such as urine andother certain body exudates. The absorbent core 110 may comprise a widevariety of liquid-absorbent materials commonly used in disposablediapers and other absorbent articles such as comminuted wood pulp, whichis generally referred to as air felt. Examples of other suitableabsorbent materials include creped cellulose wadding; melt blownpolymers, including co-form; chemically stiffened, modified orcross-linked cellulosic fibers; tissue, including tissue wraps andtissue laminates; absorbent foams; absorbent sponges; superabsorbentpolymers; absorbent gelling materials; superabsorbent fibers; or anyother known absorbent material or combinations of materials.

Exemplary absorbent structures for use as the absorbent cores (eithersingle layer, or multi layer composite structures) are described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,610,678 entitled “High-Density Absorbent Structures” issuedto Weisman et al. on Sep. 9, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,402 entitled“Absorbent Articles With Dual-Layered Cores” issued to Weisman et al. onJun. 16, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,735, entitled “High Density AbsorbentMembers Having Lower Density and Lower Basis Weight Acquisition Zones”,issued to Alemany et al. on May 30, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,231entitled “Absorbent Core Having A Dusting Layer” issued to Angstadt onDec. 19, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,537 entitled “Absorbent StructureContaining Individualized, Polycarboxylic Acid Crosslinked Wood PulpCellulose Fibers” which issued to Herron et al. on Aug. 11, 1992; U.S.Pat. No. 5,147,345 entitled “High Efficiency Absorbent Articles ForIncontinence Management” issued to Young et al. on Sep. 15, 1992; U.S.Pat. No. 5,342,338 entitled “Disposable Absorbent Article ForLow-Viscosity Fecal Material” issued to Roe on Aug. 30, 1994; U.S. Pat.No. 5,260,345 entitled “Absorbent Foam Materials For Aqueous Body Fluidsand Absorbent Articles Containing Such Materials” issued to DesMarais etal. on Nov. 9, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,207 entitled “Thin-Until-WetAbsorbent Foam Materials For Aqueous Body Fluids And Process For MakingSame” issued to Dyer et al. on Feb. 7, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,316entitled “Slitted Absorbent Members For Aqueous Body Fluids Formed OfExpandable Absorbent Materials” issued to LaVon et al. on Mar. 14, 1995;and U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,222 entitled “Absorbent Foam Materials ForAqueous Fluids Made From High Internal Phase Emulsions Having Very HighWater-To-Oil Ratios” issued to DesMarais et al. on Jul. 22, 1997. Eachof these patents is incorporated herein by reference.

The backsheet 120 is generally that portion of the garment 20 positionedadjacent the garment-facing surface of the absorbent core 110. Backsheet120 prevents the exudates absorbed and contained therein from soilingarticles that may contact the garment 20, such as bed sheets andundergarments. In preferred embodiments, the backsheet 120 issubstantially impervious to liquids (e.g., urine) and comprises alaminate of a nonwoven and a thin plastic film such as a thermoplasticfilm having a thickness of about 0.012 mm (0.5 mil) to about 0.051 mm(2.0 mils). Suitable backsheet films include those manufactured byTredegar Industries Inc. of Terre Haute, Ind. and sold under the tradenames X15306, X10962, and X10964. Other suitable backsheet materials mayinclude breathable materials that permit vapors to escape from thegarment 20 while still preventing exudates from passing through thebacksheet 120. Exemplary breathable materials may include materials suchas woven webs, nonwoven webs, composite materials such as film-coatednonwoven webs, and microporous films such as manufactured by MitsuiToatsu Co., of Japan under the designation ESPOIR NO and by TredegarIndustries under the designation EXAIRE. Suitable breathable compositematerials comprising polymer blends are available from ClopayCorporation, Cincinnati, Ohio under the name HYTREL blend P18-3097. Suchbreathable composite materials are described in greater detail in PCTApplication No. WO 95/16746, published on Jun. 22, 1995 in the name ofE. I. DuPont and copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/744,487,filed on Nov. 6, 1996 in the name of Curro. Other breathable backsheetsincluding nonwoven webs and apertured formed films are described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,571,096 issued to Dobrin et al. on Nov. 5, 1996. Each ofthese references is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Backsheet 120 may also consist of more than one layer wherein abacksheet outer layer (often referred to simply as the backsheet) may bemade of a soft, non-woven material and a backsheet inner layer may bemade of a substantially impermeable film. Even if not referred to as thebacksheet, pant like garments desirably have an outer cover layer ofsoft material. This layer may extend beyond the edges of the mainabsorbent portion 30 (e.g. it may also extend into and cover the sideareas) or it may be coterminous with other layers of the main absorbentportion 30. Adhesive, or any other suitable material or method, may beused to join backsheet layers together. While a variety of backsheetconfigurations are contemplated herein, it would be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The garment 20 may also include such other features as are known in theart including cuffs, waist cap features, elastics and the like toprovide better fit, containment and aesthetic characteristics. Suchadditional features are well known in the art and are described in U.S.Pat. No. 3,860,003; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,092, which are incorporatedby reference herein.

For example, garment 20 may include barrier cuffs 180 which provideimproved containment of liquids and other body exudates. Barrier cuffs180 may also be referred to as barrier leg cuffs, inner leg cuffs,containment flaps, or “stand-up” elasticized flaps. U.S. Pat. Nos.4,808,178 and 4,909,803 issued to Aziz et al. on Feb. 28, 1989 and Mar.20, 1990, respectively, describe disposable diapers having “stand-up”elasticized flaps that improve the containment of the leg regions.

Additionally, garment 20 may include gasketing cuffs 190 which alsoprovide improved containment of liquids and other body exudates.Gasketing cuffs 190 may also be referred to as outer leg cuff, legbands, side flaps, leg cuffs or elastic cuffs. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003describes a disposable diaper which provides a contractible leg openinghaving a side flap and one or more elastic members to provide anelasticized leg cuff.

Barrier cuff 180 and gasketing cuff 190 may both be provided by way of adual cuff, as exampled in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,695,278 and 4,795,454 issuedto Lawson on Sep. 22, 1987 and to Dragoo on Jan. 3, 1989, respectively.Any of the elastic materials known in the art typically employed in suchcuff structures are suitable for use in garments of the presentinvention is cuff structures are employed. Cuffs may be joined to themain absorbent portion 30 using any suitable means known in the art.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, in addition to the main absorbent portion 30, thegarment 20 generally comprises a pair of side areas such as left sidearea 40 and right side area 50. As previously noted the side areas maybe integral with the main absorbent portion 30 (that is they may becontinuous extensions of one or more of the layers of the main absorbentportion 30) or they may be separately attached to the main absorbentportion 30. Alternatively, the side areas may be made of multiplecomponents or layers some of which are discrete (either attachedseparately to the main absorbent portion or separated therefrom by agap) and some of which are continuous. An example of this type ofconstruction is a garment provided with an outer nonwoven cover whichcompletely covers all areas of the garment 20 including the side areas40 and 50 and the main absorbent portion 30.

The side areas 40 and 50 together with the main absorbent portion form apant like garment 20 having a waist opening 80 and a pair of legopenings 90 and 100, when said pant like garment is in a closedconfiguration. As shown in FIGS. 1-3 the front side portions aredisposed generally transversely outward from said longitudinal edges 150and 160 of said main absorbent portion 30 at or near the front waistregion 144. Similarly the rear side portions 45 and 55 are disposedgenerally transversely outward from said longitudinal edges 150 and 160of said main absorbent portion 30 at or near the rear waist region 146.In this manner the respective waist regions together with the sideportions (both front and rear) form a complete waist opening when thefront and rear waist portions are joined such as at attachment areas 60and 70. Similarly, the main absorbent portion 30 and the side portionsin combination also form leg openings 90 and 100 in a similar manner.

Preferably, the side areas 40 and 50 may be extensible or morepreferably elastic. The side areas may be made extensible or elastic byany of a variety of techniques known in the art. For example, an elasticside area can be made by sandwiching elastic strands or films betweenfacing layers of cover material, such as a non-woven material.Typically, in such a construction the elastic stands are attached to thefacing layers while in a stretched configuration. After attachment, thestrands are allowed to relax thereby gathering the facing layers andcreating an elastic laminate. Alternatively, elastic strands or film canbe attached to one or more facing layers in either a relaxedconfiguration or partially stretched configuration. The resultinglaminate can be made stretchable (or more stretchable over a furtherrange) by subjecting the laminate to an elongation process whichelongates the facing layers permanently, but the elastic stands or layeronly temporarily. Such processes are known in the art as “zero strain”stretch laminates, and the elongation of such laminates may beaccomplished with suitable means such as rollers, engaging teeth, or thelike. Examples of zero strain activation processing and formations ofresulting stretchable laminates are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,897issued to Weber et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,793 issued to Buell etal.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the side areas may be provided withattachment areas for attaching the front side areas to the rear sideareas. Examples of such attachment areas are left side attachment are 60and right side attachment area 70 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS.1-3, these attachment areas may be located approximately midway betweenthe front and back portions of the respective side areas. However, thisis not necessary and any location along the side area is acceptable tolocate an attachment area.

In one embodiment of the present invention attachment areas seams suchas left and right attachment areas 60 and 70 are created through theattachment of front and back portions of the side areas with arefastenable reclosure device. Other refastenable attachment areas otherthan in the side seam (in addition to or instead of such a side seam)are also possible. For example, such an area could be at the boundarybetween one or both of the side panels and the main absorbent portion.In one embodiment, such a refastenable device may be through use ofcohesive materials. For example, FIG. 3 shows front and rear left sideareas 42 and 45 provided with cohesive areas 43 and 44 over at least aportion of their respective surface areas. Similarly right side areas 52and 55 are provided with cohesive areas 53 and 54. For ease ofdescription, more details of the construction in FIG. 3 will be givenwith respect to the left side area. However, the same description may beapplicable to side areas located on each side of the product.

FIG. 3 shows front side area 42 and rear side area 45 each provided witha cohesive area 43 and 44 respectively. The cohesive areas 43 and 44 maycover only a portion of the side areas as shown in FIG. 3, or they maybe coextensive with each portion of the side area. Each of the frontside area 42 and rear side areas 45 may be made out of a material whichis manufactured so as to be both elastic and cohesive (e.g. the materialmay be extruded as strands of elastic cohesive material which is woveninto a web or otherwise formed into an elastic cohesive web). In othervariations, the side areas may be formed and a cohesive coating may beapplied separately as desired to desired portions of the side areas. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the cohesive area 43 is designed to haveconnection properties with cohesive area 44. The cohesive material usedin cohesive area 43 may be the same or in the same class of materials asthat used in 44 (a so called A-A cohesive relationship) or it may be adifferent material (an A-B cohesive relationship). In either case, it isdesired that the cohesive material only connect or fasten (i.e. form aconnection to) the intended target cohesive material and not to othermaterials generally.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the refastening capability of the sidearea consists of the cohesive areas 43 and 44. In this embodiment, noother refastening capability is needed or provided to the side areas.The cohesive material provided in the cohesive areas may be located onone or both facing surfaces (i.e. the body facing surface and thegarment facing surface) of the respective side areas. If the cohesivematerial is located on only one of the facing surfaces, the material maybe disposed on opposite facing surfaces on each of the front and rearside areas. In this manner, the resulting side areas when closed, canhave an overlapping configuration. Because the cohesive material willconnect or fasten to selective materials (referred to generically asother cohesive materials, whether the “target” or the engaging material)and not to other materials generally, the use of cohesive materials forrefastening allows for disposition of cohesive materials on both sidesof the respective side areas. This provides the advantage that duringfastening or re-fastening, the consumer may overlap either portion ofthe side area with the other and still have a viable refastenableclosure means. By contrast, most mechanical fastening systems (such ashook and loop systems) require that the complimentary components bemated in only one relationship to work properly. It may be desired,nevertheless, to place an engaging cohesive material and correspondingtarget receiving area on only one side of a portion of the article (suchas opposite side panels). In this case, there will only be oneoverlapping configuration which will make a connection (e.g. front panelover back or back panel over front).

Because the cohesive material will only connect or fasten aggressivelyto selected target material (of either the same or complementing type),the size of each cohesive area may be larger than the space actuallyneeded for overlap of the front and rear portions of the side areas. Inother words, the size of cohesive areas such as cohesive area 43 and 44need not be the same as the resulting attachment area 60 when thegarment is closed into a pant like configuration. Indeed if the frontand rear side portions are opened and re-fastened several times duringuse of the article, the amount of overlap and the resulting size of theattachment area thereby created may be varied each time if desired. Insuch a case any cohesive material on the remaining exposed (i.e. notoverlapping) portions is not of concern since this cohesive materialshould not connect to skin, clothing, or other portions of the garment.By combining stretch properties with cohesive materials in the sideareas, the refastening capability can also provide for size selection ofthe resulting waist opening.

A wide variety of cohesive materials may be used to form the cohesiverefastenable features shown in FIG. 3. Ideally the resulting seam areaswill demonstrate high resistance to shear forces in use, butsignificantly less resistance to peel forces in use. For example, thecohesive materials may be chosen to demonstrate resistance to shearforces greater than 10N, preferably greater than 30 N. Similarly theresistance to peel forces might range from about 0.5 N to about 25 N, orcould range from about 0.5 N to about 15 N, and could range from about0.7 N to about 10 N. The cohesive materials may be chosen such that thecohesive attachments areas may be detached and refastened at least about3 times before product disposal.

Typically, many conventionally available cohesive materials are pressuresensitive. That is, the degree of fixation the materials demonstrate tothe selected cohesive target increases with increased pressure withwhich the materials are pressed together. During initial formation of apant like garment according to the present invention high pressure maybe applied to create side seams between cohesive areas of respectiveside panels. In this manner the garment may be initially presented in aclosed or pant like configuration. Because the side seams were formedusing high pressure, a relatively small amount of overlap (as comparedto overlap during refastening) may be required between the respectiveside areas to achieve sufficient strength of the side seam. Once thearticle is pulled over the hips of the wearer, the side seams may bere-adjusted and refastened with more overlap to achieve a more snug fit.This greater overlap also results in greater cohesive bond strength eventhough the pressure applied to the materials may be less than thepressure applied during initial formation of the pant likeconfiguration. In such a manner the benefits of refastenability andadjustability of the waist opening are achieved in combination. This isparticularly true if the side areas in which the cohesive areas aresited are elastic.

It will be readily appreciated by those of skill in the art that theoverall dimensions of the disposable pant like garment 20 may varydepending on the intended size and age range of the wearer. For example,it may be desirable to provide pant like garments of the presentinvention in a variety of sizes to accommodate various toddler stages ofdevelopment and to provide such products with features corresponding toone or more of such stages. The size of the side portions may vary andsuitable sizes might range from about 2 cm to about 15 cm in length (inthe longitudinal direction) and from about 12.7 cm to about 381 cm(measured in the transverse direction). Similarly, the size of thecohesive areas provided on the side areas may also vary. The cohesiveareas may be coterminous with each of the side areas upon which they aredisposed. Alternatively, the cohesive areas may occupy only a portion ofthe side areas on which they are disposed. In order to gain the benefitsof both refastenability and adjustability, it may be desired to havecohesive areas on one or more side areas which are about 5 to about 60mm or more in width or which are about 15 to about 20 mm in width.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the first cohesive area 43 disposed onfront side portion 42 is coterminous in the longitudinal direction withthe front side portion, but not in the transverse direction. Similarly,second cohesive area 44 disposed on rear side portion 45 is alsoconterminous in the longitudinal direction with the rear side portion,but not in the transverse direction. FIG. 4 shows a variation of a frontside portion and a corresponding rear side portion of a garment 20 ofthe present invention in which each of first and second cohesive areas43 and 44 are coterminous with front and corresponding rear sideportions, respectively. In this particular case, the attachment area 60is only a portion of the side areas and represents the portion overwhich the front side portion 42 and rear side portions 45 are overlappedfor attachment to each other.

While advantages of the present invention have been described over theuse of mechanical type fasteners in disposable pant like garments, theremay be some circumstances in which additional advantages can be achievedby employing cohesive fasteners in combination with other attachmentmeans. In particular, unique combinations of cohesive refastening areasin combination with frangible bond locations can afford even additionalbenefits over currently known disposable pant like garments.

An example of an embodiment of this type is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.5 shows an example of how a front side portion 200 and a rear sideportion 220 of such an embodiment might be configured. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 5 front side portion 200 has a first cohesive area 240disposed on one of its surfaces. For example, if this front side portionis located on the left side of the complete pant like garment firstcohesive area 240 might be on the body facing side of the front sideportion. As previously noted, because the cohesive material will onlyconnect to another designated cohesive area contact of the firstcohesive area 240 with the skin is not of concern (provided that thecohesive material chosen of course, is not irritating and otherwisemeets safety and regulatory requirements for use in articles of thistype). The rear side portion 220 contains a second cohesive area 260disposed on one of its surfaces. In the example shown in FIG. 5 thesurface upon which second cohesive area 260 is disposed is opposite thatof first cohesive area 240. Both cohesive areas may alternatively bedisposed on the opposite facing surfaces of their respective sideportions, or both may be on the same facing surface. Alternatively, bothfacing surfaces of each side portion may be provided with a cohesivearea.

FIG. 5 also shows a frangible bond 280 joining the front side portion200 and the rear side portion 220. Frangible bond may be of any suitabletype such a pressure bond, a thermal bond, an adhesive bond, anultrasonic bond, or any other type of bond which may be broken by a useror caregiver during normal use of the article. FIG. 5 shows the frontside portion 200 and the rear side portion 220 are joined by frangiblebond 280 in an abutting relationship over at least a portion of thesurface of each of said front side portion 200 and said rear sideportion 220. By an abutting relationship, it is meant that at least aportion of the same facing surface (i.e. body facing surface or garmentfacing surface of both the front side portion and the rear side portionare joining in a face to face relationship. An abutting relationship isdistinguished from an overlapping relationship (shown in FIG. 6) whichis a relationship in which face to face contact between the font sideportion and rear side portion occurs on opposite facing surfaces of eachportion (e.g. the body facing side of the front side portion is in faceto face contact with a portion of the garment facing side of the rearside portion). The abutting relationship shown in FIG. 5 shows a section300 of the body facing side 320 of front side portion 200 turnedoutwardly and placed in face to face contact with a section of the bodyfacing side 320 of rear side portion 220. Alternatively, an abuttingrelationship can be created by face to face contact with at leastsections of the garment facing surface 310 of each of the front sideportions 200 and the rear side portion 220.

FIG. 6 represents a potential configuration of front side portion 200and rear side portion 220 after frangible bond 280 has been broken andthe cohesive areas are placed together to form a cohesive refastenablejoining of the front and rear side portions. As shown in FIG. 6 firstcohesive area 240 from front side portion may be placed in face to facerelationship with second cohesive area 260 from rear side portion 220.Because these cohesive areas are disposed on opposite facing surfaces oftheir respective side sections, the resulting face to face contact is anarea of overlapping configuration as described above. The ability for auser to make such conversion from an abutting relationship offersseveral advantages. Firstly, the manufacture of the article in theconfiguration shown in FIG. 5 with a frangible bond is readilyaccomplished with such an abutting relationship. Upon breaking of thefrangible bond, if desired, the user may employ an overlappingrelationship to take advantage of the cohesive bonds thereby formed. Inthe abutting relationship, the cohesive areas are not facing each other,thereby not creating a cohesive bond prior to the time such is needed ordesired (e.g. after the frangible bond is broken). It is desirable thatthe cohesive attachment of front side portion 200 and rear side portion220 as shown in FIG. 6 result in adjustable attachment. In other wordsthe first cohesive area 240 and second cohesive area 260 may bepositioned so that they line up completely, or only a portion of eachcohesive area may be placed in contact with its complementing cohesivearea. Particularly, if the size of each cohesive area is large inrelationship to the side section as a whole, the entire cohesive areasare unlikely to be overlapped. The additional cohesive area providedallows for a range of adjustability of the overall side portion of thegarment.

FIG. 7 shows another variation on the side portions of garments of thepresent invention. FIG. 7 shows a front side portion 400 and a rear sideportion 420. The front side portion is provided with first cohesive area440 and the rear side portion is provided with second cohesive area 460.First and second cohesive areas partially overlap in a face to facerelationship to form a cohesively bonded attachment area 470. Such anattachment area could correspond to attachment area 70 shown in FIG. 1.FIG. 7 also shows a frangible supplemental bond such as pressure bond500. Of course, this frangible bond may be of any of the types describedabove with respect to FIG. 5. In an article having the configurationshown in FIG. 7 both the frangible bond 500 and cohesive attachment area470 might be engaged at the time the garment is packaged and provided tothe consumer. The consumer may break one or both of these bonds andselectively refasten the cohesive attachment as desired.

FIG. 8 shows another aspect of the present invention in which multiplecohesive areas of different types are present on the front side portionsand rear side portions. For example, as shown in FIG. 8 front sideportion 500 may be provided with two or more cohesive areas such ascohesive area A and cohesive area B. Each of cohesive A and B is adifferent composition and is designed to form a cohesive bond witheither cohesive material of the same type or of the other type. Rearside portion 520 also has cohesive area A and cohesive area B. In theconfiguration shown in FIG. 8 at least one cohesive area A is directlyopposite another cohesive area A. If front side portion 500 and rearside portion 520 are elastic, they may be stretched in the direction ofthe arrows and refastened such that each cohesive area A overlaps eachcohesive area B. In this embodiment each of cohesive A and cohesive Bare selected and chosen so that at least one bond property changesdepending on whether the resulting cohesive bonding is between cohesivematerials of the same type or cohesive materials of different types.Examples of the bond properties which may vary are shear or peelresistance, pressure sensitivity of the bond, or other similarproperties.

A wide variety of conventional cohesive materials are suitable for usein the present invention. Examples of webs of material which are bothelastic and provided with cohesive properties are described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,156,424 issued to Taylor. It is generally desirable that thecohesive materials chosen do not increase their surface interaction overtime and maintain their stability over the range of storage and useconditions typically seen by disposable absorbent articles of the typedescribed herein. While it is recognized that most such cohesivematerials will increase there surface interaction somewhat over time, itis desirable that this increase be minimized or at least remain withinranges suitable for the application. The cohesive materials may besupplied already disposed on the web material comprising the sideportions, or it may be applied during manufacture of the garment as awhole. Other suitable cohesive materials may include latex,polyisoprene, polystyrene-polyisoprene-polystyrene orpolystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene elastomers,budadiene-acrylonitrile-iosoprene or butadiene-acrylonitrile polymermaterials. Materials such as poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyamide,polypropylene, or polyethylene based materials may also be used. Thesematerials may be surface modified such as by chemical treatment, coronatreatment or the like.

In addition to the features and properties previously described, any ofthe embodiments or variants of the present invention may be providedwith additional optional features or characteristics. For example, pantlike garments of the present invention may use cohesive areas (or otherattachment mechanisms) to form a post use disposal means for theproduct. An example of such post use disposal means using mechanicalfasteners is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,140 to Robertson. It willbe readily appreciated by one of skill in the art that the principlesand techniques of the present invention using cohesive attachmentmethods can be employed to also create such a disposal means.

The side portion of garments of the present invention may also beprovided with finger tabs or other means to assist in opening the sideportion attachment area. This facilitates easy opening and refasteningof the garment during use.

The side portions of garments of the present invention may be providedin a variety of colors and/or designs. For example, it may be desired toprovide one color scheme for garments for boys and another color schemefor garments for girls. Additionally the color of the side portions (orother area of the garments) can be used to indicate which stage in amulti stage of development line up the product corresponds to.

The side portions can be provided with aids or indicia which facilitaterefastenable closing of the product. For example, the side portions canhave a size scale inscribed on one or both sides so that users mayreadily reattach the side portions together at the same location asprevious attachments, or may know they desire to select a differentattachment location which can be more readily found. Graphics and colorsin the side portions can be used to indicate proper attachment. Forexample, the cohesive materials and corresponding side portions can beconfigured such that composite graphics or colors change upon openingand reattachment events indicating to the user the state of thegarments' configuration.

Automatic registration techniques can be used to register the cohesivematerials on the side portions of each garment during high speedmanufacturing operations. This registration can be accomplished throughthe use of a reference character or mark on a suitable portion of thegarment.

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable pant like garment comprising: a mainabsorbent portion comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquidimpermeable backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed therebetween, themain absorbent portion having a first waist region, a second waistregion and a crotch region between and connecting the first and thesecond waist regions, the main absorbent portion having a firstlongitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge; a first side portionconnected with the first waist region of the main absorbent portion andextending transversely outward from the first longitudinal edge of themain absorbent portion, the first side portion comprising a firstdistinct area including a cohesive of type A and a second distinct areaincluding a cohesive of type B; a second side portion connected with thesecond waist region of the main absorbent portion and extendingtransversely outward from the first longitudinal edge of the mainabsorbent portion, the second side portion comprising a first distinctarea including a cohesive of type A and a second distinct area includinga cohesive of type B; and wherein each of the cohesive type A and thecohesive type B on the first side portion is adapted to form a cohesivebond with either the cohesive type A or the cohesive type B on thesecond side portion; and wherein at least one bond property of thecohesive bond varies depending on whether the cohesive bond is formedbetween the cohesive type A's or the cohesive type B's.
 2. Thedisposable pant like garment of claim 1, wherein the first distinct areaof the first side portion is releasably connected with the seconddistinct area of the second side portion.
 3. The disposable pant likegarment of claim 1, wherein the second distinct area of the first sideportion is releasably connected with the first distinct area of thesecond side portion.
 4. The disposable pant like garment of claim 1,wherein the first distinct area of the first side portion is releasablyconnected with the first distinct area of the second side portion. 5.The disposable pant like garment of claim 1, further comprising: a thirdside portion connected with the first waist region of the main absorbentportion and extending transversely outward from the second longitudinaledge of the main absorbent portion, the third side portion comprising afirst distinct area including a cohesive of type A and a second distinctarea including a cohesive of type B; and a fourth side portion connectedwith the second waist region of the main absorbent portion and extendingtransversely outward from the second longitudinal edge of the mainabsorbent portion, the fourth side portion comprising a first distinctarea including a cohesive of type A and a second distinct area includinga cohesive of type B.
 6. The disposable pant like garment of claim 1,wherein the first side portion and the second side portion furthercomprise hook and loop fasteners.
 7. The disposable pant like garment ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one bond property comprises shearresistance.
 8. The disposable pant like garment of claim 1, wherein theat least one bond property comprises peel resistance.